Beautiful Lady, Want to Go Out?

The Hokage Building, conference room.

At the head of the rectangular conference table sat the young Third, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

To his left sat a young man with short brownish-gray hair and glasses. He adjusted his frames, his expression grave.

At the head of the table on the right, Danzo abruptly slammed his hand down and rose to his feet. "Hiruzen, we can't keep letting them run wild! For the sake of the village, make a decision already!"

"Calm down, Danzo. Now isn't the time to move against them," said a young woman with snow-blue hair piled high atop her head, her tone unhurried.

"Don't get so worked up. It's bad for your health," said another man, his ample frame spread just as widely across as it was tall, trying to smooth things over with a laugh.

Something must have happened to bring several of Konoha's highest-ranking advisers together here.

The man with glasses was Mitokado Homura, a senior adviser to Konoha.

The young woman with snow-blue hair piled atop her head was Utatane Koharu, another senior adviser to Konoha.

The fat man was the current head of the Akimichi Clan, Torifu Akimichi, and a senior adviser to Konoha.

Just as the conference room's atmosphere had grown so tense it was almost suffocating,

the five people present suddenly changed expressions.

"This vicious presence that just appeared in the village..." Danzo furrowed his brows, as though recalling something.

After exchanging a glance with Mitokado Homura, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately pulled a crystal ball from inside his robes and swiftly formed Hand Seals with both hands. "Telescope Technique."

An image of a place near the Ninja Academy appeared on the crystal ball.

Once the others saw what was on the crystal ball, all four of them turned to look at Danzo with odd expressions.

"Ahem... That little brat, always getting me into trouble..." Danzo felt awkward under their gazes and coughed twice.

"What kind of ninja beast is that? A fox with three tails? Why does it look a little like the Nine-Tails..." Mitokado Homura looked at Danzo suspiciously.

If not for the unfathomable strength of the person who had lived in the Senju Clan Compound for years,

he might have wondered whether the Nine-Tails had been released. In the current Shinobi World, even if Madara Uchiha were resurrected, it was hard to say whether he could hold his own against that person.

"Ahem... That fox called itself a Fox Immortal from Qingqiu Mountain. It certainly has a big mouth. It claims to be one of the four great sacred lands, on par with Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest." Danzo hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately told them what he knew.

"Qingqiu Mountain? One of the four great sacred lands? The Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest was acquainted with the First, and the Slug Sage's Summoning Scroll is now in that person's hands. I've heard the First and Second Hokage mention Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myōboku. But Qingqiu Mountain? I've never heard of it." Sarutobi Hiruzen lowered his head, deep in thought.

"Indeed, I've never heard of it." After thinking it over, the others all shook their heads.

Danzo's expression grew slightly grave. "At first, I didn't believe it either. But now, I'm starting to."

"Hm?" The four of them looked at Danzo, waiting for him to continue.

"Four months ago, that fox was only about as strong as an ordinary Chunin." Danzo said no more.

The other four were stunned.

"How... How is that possible? It went from Chunin level to Jonin level in just four months?" After a long silence, Utatane Koharu still found it hard to believe.

They all knew what this meant.

For a ninja beast to grow so much stronger in just four short months could only mean one thing: its potential was extremely high!

If Xian Yu had been there, he would have burst out laughing. Without something as miraculous as Spirit Rice, Xiao Qi obviously couldn't have gone from Chunin strength to the threshold of Jonin strength in just a few months.

Spirit Rice could help spirit beasts reach adulthood earlier to a certain extent. But the cost was enormous. Xian Yu had only one jin of Spirit Rice left.

After all, Bai Xiaoqi didn't eat Spirit Rice like Xian Yu, who only had one grain a day... The only reason he still had a jin left was that Xian Yu had rationed it very carefully.

"Not only that. A ninja beast of that size would have an astonishing amount of chakra. Even if we had to deal with it, each of us could suppress it alone, but we'd pay a considerable price," said Mitokado Homura solemnly, adjusting his glasses out of habit.

"Could there really be a fourth sacred land?" The five exchanged glances.

Torifu Akimichi seemed to think of something and added, "The most terrifying thing about a giant summoning beast like this is its appearance on a battlefield. It's still nowhere near as powerful as a Tailed Beast, but it's also nowhere near as difficult to control. So, in that Qingqiu Mountain place, are there ninja foxes stronger and larger than this one?"

The human imagination knew no bounds. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

"Actually, there's no need to worry too much. Aside from the fact that we have that person stationed in the village year-round, I've seen that fox obey the little brat without question. The kid may not be very talented, but I, Danzo, trained him myself. He's clever, and he won't cause any trouble."

Danzo, who often used Xian Yu as a punching bag, was every bit as shocked as the others. Over the past few months, Xian Yu's strength had shot up like a rocket. Although he'd always kept a low profile, there had been a few times when Danzo beat him until he lost his temper and unleashed his full power. Even this man known as the Darkness of the Shinobi World had been secretly astonished by how quickly he was improving. In the end, he credited it all to that fox. Danzo was actually somewhat pleased about it.

"Mm. Once the little fellow grows up, if we can get the Summoning Scroll from Qingqiu Mountain, it'll add another asset to Konoha's strength." Thinking of the Slug Sage's Summoning Scroll, the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, felt a surge of excitement.

He had no personal desire for such things, but it would naturally be good for the village to have another powerful summoning beast scroll that could be passed down, especially if the beast might rival the Slug Sage. Summoning beasts of that level were almost as powerful as some of the weaker Tailed Beasts.

"Have Orochimaru and Jiraiya already grown this strong?" The crystal ball now showed Orochimaru and Jiraiya easily dealing with several third-year upperclassmen. The Third, who had been keeping an eye on the two boys for a long time, murmured to himself.

"Even she's been stirred up by this... Those brats are such a handful!"

Back with Xian Yu.

The whole battle had been extremely brief, because it had been a one-sided stomp. In the end, not one of the seven "seniors" managed to escape.

Xian Yu was still wondering if Konoha's Anbu were really that slow.

And what about the Uchiha Police Force?

The commotion here hadn't been small. How come no one had come to deal with it yet?

Just as he was thinking that,

he turned around.

And there, as unexpected as she was inevitable, stood someone.

A woman. A very young, beautiful, and elegant woman.

At a time when Konoha was short on capable fighters and the Third and the other senior figures were still only Jonin or Elite Jonin, with not a single Kage Level fighter among them,

the other four great ninja villages didn't dare cross Konoha's line.

Konoha's bedrock. The first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Uzumaki Mito.

Xian Yu stared blankly at Uzumaki Mito, who had appeared behind him out of nowhere.

Her beautiful red hair was arranged in two buns, and a pale purple diamond-shaped mark rested between her brows.

After a long pause, he slowly managed to utter a few words: "Beautiful lady, want to go out?"

The Hokage Building, conference room. Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Torifu Akimichi.

All their mouths dropped open into perfect O's...⊙o⊙